Get in the Ring Prepares for African Finals in Kigali

Preparations are underway for the BiDNetwork to host the African finals of GEW global pick Get in the Ring on September 18, 2014 in Kigali, Rwanda.

With 64 countries participating in the international competition this year, Get in the Ring is readying for its global finals during Global Entrepreneurship Week this fall, by organizing regional finals to determine the lineup of competitors that will gather in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on November 21.

The Kigali regional finals will feature 10 promising African startups eager to prove themselves in front of investors and other players in the African entrepreneurial ecosystem. The finalists represent a wide array of social innovators and business-savvy entrepreneurs, including:

• EpoChip, a startup from South Africa that has found a way to transform radio waves into electrical energy to charge electronic devices;
• SOFOTEC, a startup from Burundi that has created a “super food” supplement to battle widespread malnutrition;
• Habona, a Rwandan company that has created simple household biogas plants that produce energy and bio-fertilizer that addresses Rwanda’s waste problem and helps the country’s many farmers bolster their crops; and
• Rocac Group, a Kenyan startup looking to create positive social change by training local farmers and increasing sustainable farming practices while producing natural coconut oil and water products.

While applications are still open in many countries, Get in the Ring has begun to populate the judging panel for their global finals, starting with Lauren Maillian Bias, a NYC-based investor, marketing expert and author of the book The Path Redefined.

For more information on Get in the Ring, please visit their website.

To register for the African regional finals, please contact Marijn Bergsma of BiD Network: marijn.bergsma@bidnetwork.org